Gen. 17:20

"And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him."

Ishmael was born through Abraham’s attempt to do God’s work in man’s way. Of course, whenever we do that, we run into trouble. From this act of unbelief was birthed the Arab peoples of the world, who today live in great hostility to their Israeli cousins. But even so, the grace of God is greater still. God’s promise to bless Ishmael is echoed later in Scripture, through the prophet Isaiah who declared, “The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth” (Isa. 19:24). Today it may be hard for some to imagine Muslim countries like Egypt and Assyria becoming a blessing to the whole earth, but that is God’s promise. Do you have faith to believe?

Pray that all Muslim peoples everywhere might become recipients and agents of God’s blessing.

Pano (Pan) People

“The Panos in our Orissa parish are demanding that they should receive privileges like the Kui Samaj people since they speak Kui. The Kui Samaj resent this and point out that Panos should not have any of the tribal status they have since many of them are Dalit Christians and are therefore beneath them as a people. The Kuis resent any Panos who would try to receive any benefits even though most Panos are living in severe poverty. Many of our Pano Christians face continued persecution from the Hindu groups and even from their own people.” The Catholic Priest was explaining to his bishop the seriousness of the problems faced by the Pano people.

Orissa, India is the primary home of over 1.4 million Pano (aka, Pan) people. Thousands of Panos also live in other parts of India such as West Bengal, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. The majority of Panos live by farming or fishing. They take menial jobs because they are Dalits. Pano people have faced considerable health problems related to contaminated water, poor diet, respiratory infections and lack of medical care. Several charitable groups have made efforts to help them with these problems. This has helped, but most of them still face these same problems. Most Panos worship Hindu and village deities and participate in ancestral worship. They are still unreached, according to the Joshua Project web site.